P38K: The Real One, not the Nazi Fantasy Piece
Germany
•
8m 39s
The P38K is both a fantasy WWII concept and also a real pistol made in small numbers by Walther in the 1970s. The idea is simple; just cut down the barrel on a P38 to barely in front of the slide (2.8 inches on the real ones). This does make for a shorter gun, although it retains the large frame and limited capacity of the standard P38, and it’s not really much more concealable than the original.
The real P38K went into preproduction in 1972, with several dozen guns made for Munich and Bremerhaven police in 1972 and 1973. It was really not so much a P38K as a P1K or P4K; it uses the aluminum frame of the P1 and the solid slide of the P4. Full commercial production began in 1974, with serial number 500101. The first 400 guns formed a first variation - these have dovetailed-in front sights and unreinforced frames. From 500501 to the end of production (502595) they would get a hexagonal reinforcing pin in the frame and a front sight milled into the side as a fixed element. Production ended in 1981, with a total of just 2495 production examples made (mostly in 9x19mm, with about 200 in 7.65x21mm).
Up Next in Germany
-
HK GMG in Ukraine
While the Mk19 40×53 mm automatic grenade launcher has become increasingly ubiquitous in Ukraine, alongside familiar Soviet-era AGLs like the AGS-17, but there are other automatic grenade launchers in use. In this video we'll look at the use of the comparatively rare Heckler & Koch GMG.
Be sure ...
-
HK MG4 in Ukraine
On 23 December 2024 the German government confirmed that 200 Heckler & Koch MG4 5.56x45mm machine guns had been delivered as aid to Ukraine. In this video we'll examine some of the first sightings of the guns and share some of the opinions of the combatants using them.
Be sure to check out our a...
-
Book Review: ERMA Erfurter Maschinenf...
Available from Schiffer Publishing as three separate volumes:
https://www.schiffermilitary.com/collections/military-new-releases/products/erma-erfurter-maschinenfabrik-1924-2003-vol-1
https://www.schiffermilitary.com/collections/military-new-releases/products/erma-erfurter-maschinenfabrik-1924-...
